The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group works to help people whose rights have been violated and investigates cases involving such abuse, as well as assessing the overall human rights situation in Ukraine. The Group also seeks to develop awareness of human rights issues through public events and its various publications

Ihor Rozkladai from the Media Law Institute is adamant that a law which envisages imprisonment for “promotion of homosexuality” is just as dangerous as the law on libel. He stresses that the main danger in the law lies in the fact that there is no clarity in the bill as to what “promotion” actually means.

Rozkladai explains that in the Criminal Code there is only one article (436) where the concerpt of « propaganda » is set out « a bit more clearly » - there it’s about propaganda of war “and they explain that these are public calls”.

“And in the article that they won’t to make changes to, Article 300 (for example, prohibiting the circulation of works which promote the cult of violence and cruelty; intolerance; discrimination), there is no explanation. That means that in principle this is about judgement.”

“Like any assessment, those who best argue their case will be right. It’s clear that that will be the law enforcement bodies”.

For these reasons he sees the draft bill as no less dangerous than that criminalizing libel. He stresses that parliamentarians have no lawful aim in interfering in the work of the media.

As reported, on 2 October a draft law prohibiting what they call “promotion of homosexuality” was passed in its first reading.

The bill is entitled “On amendments to some legislative acts on protecting children’s right to a safe information realm, but is in fact against what it sees as promoting a positive attitude to people who are gay. The explanatory note claims that the “spread of homosexuality” is a threat to national security, mentioning AIDS/HIV and asserting that it threatens the family and could supposedly cause a demographic crisis.

The bill received 289 votes. If passed in its present form, what MPs consider “promotion of homosexuality” could carry a prison sentence.